


Aren't you cold?

by OneWithoutAName



Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Charles Xavier has a Ph.D in Adorable, Cursed Erik, Fairy Tale Elements, First Kiss, Fluff, Hugging, M/M, True Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-18
Updated: 2016-12-18
Packaged: 2018-09-09 13:49:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8893066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OneWithoutAName/pseuds/OneWithoutAName
Summary: It’s Christmas Eve and on his way home Charles finds very detailed copper sculpture of a man in the woods. When that same sculpture follows him to his cabin he does the thing that any other human being would do in cold night of Christmas Eve… Invites the copper man inside.  Of course!





	

**Author's Note:**

> I blame the snow! It started snowing here in Finland on early November and I was so deep in Christmas mood that I had to do something to get myself together. And so this little fic was born. The name comes from the first image I got when I tried to plan what to write. Charles, in front of a small cabin, looking at (somehow) cursed Erik in the snow and asking “Aren’t you cold?”  
> Fair warning, their relationship escalates very quickly. XD But, isn’t that the case with all fairy tales?  
> I got some inspiration from the fairy tale “Snow-White and Rose-Red”, but this is completely different story.  
> Characters are not mine (obviously) and this is not betad so all mistakes are mine. (Also English is not my first language, so please be merciful :P)

Snow had covered forests and towns with pure white blanket. The air was fresh and cold, but in a pleasant way. There was no trace of biting northern wind. Singing, laughing and merry talking could be heard in the town near the forest. It was Christmas Eve after all. Homes had been decorated with festoons, lanterns and wreaths and the smell of Christmas food and firs created an eager atmosphere.

 

Like every year, Charles had come to visit his sister Raven. She always arranged small Christmas party at her home for her closest friends. It really suited her, because she always seemed to be in a Christmas spirit and spread it all around her. She had a gift to make the event seem both impressive and cozy. In short, she was a wonderful hostess.

 

As soon as Charles stepped through the gate to a small front yard of Raven’s house the door opened, revealing his brightly smiling sister.

“Charles! I’m so glad to see you! Merry Christmas!” She greeted him and when he made it up the stairs he hugged her tightly.

“Merry Christmas Raven! It’s so good to see you too.” He replayed happily and grinned when Raven stepped away from him with a squeak.

“Eek! You’re so cold!” She accused him, but her smile didn’t disappear so Charles just laughed.

“I’m sorry Raven, but it is quite a journey from the cabin to here.” Charles lived most of the year in his own cabin in the forest. He was a writer and had noticed that the peace of the nature was more inspiriting than the noise of the town.

“Now come in, before the whole house freezes. You must help me with some things before others get here.” Raven made way so her brother could step inside. As she closed the door after him Charles saw how she eyed curiously a sack he had brought with him. He pointedly put it down far away from his sister and winked at her.

 

The day passed with stress-free hurry as Charles helped Raven with preparations and when the sun started to set the first quests arrived and the party officially started. Charles was at the door with Raven, greeting Armando and Hank. He took their coats before Raven sat them in the living room and brought them mugs of hot mulled wine. They managed to create some lively conversation when Angel arrived and just shortly after her, Janos and Azazel.

 

Raven was just fetching their drinks when there was another knock on the door, so it was Charles’ duty to greet Emma who looked like snow queen in her white clothing and diamond jewelry. It wasn’t that formal occasion, but she always dressed like it was.

“Merry Christmas Emma. Little late this year?” Charles asked teasingly, usually she was first to arrive. She smiled back as she answered.

“Fashionably late, sugar. And merry Christmas.” As he helped Emma’s coat off, Raven appeared to the hall and accompanied her to the living room with others.

 

It was almost time for dinner when two last guests finally arrived. Alex and Sean apologized and tried to explain their late arrival, but Raven just shrugged it off, saying that she was just glad they had made it in the end. It was actually almost a tradition that they were always late and last ones to arrive.

 

The dinner was homemade, mostly by Raven, but Azazel and Janos had brought some dishes of their own and Emma had brought a bottle of red wine from her own cellar. The table was just big enough for all of them, but they had to serve the dinner in three parts so that every dish was able to fit on the table. Charles felt warm both outside and inside. As much as he liked his solitude of his own cabin, he would be lying if he said that he didn’t feel lonely sometimes.

 

While they were eating it started to snow.

 

…

 

After they all were full of dessert they gathered again in the living room to exchange presents. Nothing big or expensive, but always given with thought. This year Charles had made small Christmas ornaments for everyone. He wasn’t that good with arts and crafts, but the results were quite good, even if he said so himself. Well, at least others seemed impressed so they couldn’t be that bad.

 

As the nigh went on, the weather outside made a turn for worse. The wind had started to blow and it snowed heavily. Charles had kept an eye on it, but when he realized that it wouldn’t change anything but worse he decided that it was his time to go back home. Raven was standing beside him as he put his jacket and cloak, her arms crossed.

“You should stay the night. It’s too cold to walk a distance like that.” She tried to convince him, but Charles just kept dressing up.

“Don’t worry Raven, I’ll walk fast. And I’d love to stay here, but the fire won’t last to the morning, so the cabin would end up as freezing as it is now outside.” He put his woolen gloves and smiled encouraging to his sister, who didn’t look that pleased with the result. “I’ll be fine. Merry Christmas Raven.” He said and gave her one last hug, kissing her on her cheek. He truly hoped he could stay.

“Merry Christmas Charles. And be careful! If you go and freeze to death I will write ‘I told you so’ into your grave stone!” She threatened as she hugged him back so tightly it was almost hard to breathe. When she finally let go, Charles took his sack, now full of presents he got from the others, and threw it over his shoulder. Raven gave him a lantern to lighten his way home and with last goodbyes he stepped outside.

 

The cold hit him hard and he had to use all his willpower to not turn back and spend the night at her sister’s home after all. So he just wrapped his scarf more tightly around his neck and started to walk towards the woods and his cabin.

 

…

 

Charles knew the path back to home like he knew his own pockets so even if it was dark, there was no fear of getting lost. It still didn’t make progressing any easier when the snow was so deep it reached over his ankles at best and his to his knees at worst. He was somewhat in cover from the wind in the woods, but it still bit his cheeks now and then. Luckily, it wasn’t that long way anymore.

 

As that thought passed Charles’ mind, his right foot bumped into something and he fell face first in the snow. _Cold, cold coldcoldcoldcold!_ It took some struggling to get up, but he managed finally to get back on his legs. Good thing that the candle in the lantern hadn’t gone off. As he cleaned snow from his clothes he tried to figure out what had made him fell. He looked down and saw something dark under the snow. He couldn’t tell what it was so he started to sweep snow off of it.

 

In the light of the lantern he could see that whatever the thing was it was made from reddish, scuffed metal. Copper, probably. After some cleaning he had revealed two metal boots under the snow. Who would make boots from copper? Charles thought, but as he cleared some more snow, he found that boots continued. There were not only boots, but legs too. For a second Charles’ heart jumped to his throat. Had he discovered a corpse? But no, the legs were made of same old coper as the boots. Charles shook his head, _silly me_ , and kept sweeping snow out of the way.

 

It took some time, but finally he was looking full sized sculpture of a man, lying in the snow on its stomach. Well that was unexpected, Charles thought, how in the hell it had ended up here in the forest? The path he was now was way too narrow for wagons so it couldn’t have dropped from one of those. And there was no way that someone had carried it. There had to be an explanation. It couldn’t have just fallen from the sky!

 

Charles let out a heavy sigh. Well, he would probably never get the answer for those questions so maybe it was just better to leave it be. He looked at the sculpture for a moment before made his mind. He couldn’t just leave it lie down like that, someone else would fall because of it. Charles put the lantern down and took a good grip of the sculptures arms and tried to lift. He was surprised how light it was. He had to put his back to it yes, but he was quite sure that it should have been much heavier.

 

He managed to heave the sculpture into a standing position and turn it around so it was facing him. It was taller than him, but that wasn’t nothing new really, Charles usually was the short one. He picked up the lantern and looked the metallic man closer now when it was properly put. Its posture was straight and tense, hands clenched into fists, its gaze straight forward. He studied its face and he had to admit that the man was quite handsome. Ridiculously handsome actually. Like the artist had wanted to make a perfect man, or even a god. Probably they had wanted to say that this is how a man should look like. It had nicely muscled body, broad shoulders and slim hips. And the face, straight nose, high cheekbones, thin lips and the eyes that looked like fire was burning inside of them. It was unbelievable how detailed work someone had done. It looked so real that Charles actually waited it to move its eyes from the forest to him.

 

He hadn’t realized how long he had kept staring at the sculpture when a sound of snow falling from a tree made him startle and take a step back. He chuckled for that and looked the sculpture one more time. It was a shame to leave it there, but he couldn’t take it with him either. If it was a real human it wouldn’t survive here with only boots, trousers and shirt that sleeves had been pushed up and which neckline revealed a good view of its chest. Suddenly Charles really wanted to give his own cloak and scarf to poor sculpture, but caught himself before he could actually do it. Maybe he had drank too much. Yes, that had to be the reason he was acting so weird.

 

A strong wind made him remember that he was still actually outside and cold, so he threw his sack over his shoulder again and, before he could stop himself, bowed shortly to the copper man.

“Merry Christmas to you sir. I’m sorry I have to leave, but at least you’re not on your stomach anymore.” He said smiling and with a last gaze, turned and started walking towards home.

 

…

 

It wasn’t long way to walk anymore and in less than ten minutes Charles closed the front door behind him and let out a tired sigh. After the coldness outside the warmness of his little cabin was relieving. With slow movements he started to take off his clothes, put them on a string to dry and toed off his boots. With a deep breath he turned around and walked towards his fireplace, where the last embers stubbornly tried to stay alive and warm the one room cabin. Charles kneeled down in front of the fireplace and put some kindling with the embers, so the fire would catch again. When small flames started to eat the kindling, he put one log in and waited, until the fire started to eat that too.

 

It was silent, except for the cracking fire and howling wind outside. Maybe it was because of the party, but the cabin felt emptier and colder than it usually did. Before the silence had often been comforting, but right now, it made Charles feel lonely.

 

He rose from the floor and looked critically the log pile beside the fireplace. It might not be enough for the morning. The bare thought of stepping back outside and retrieve more logs from the shed made Charles shiver. But he also knew that even if the logs lasted, he would have to go fetch more in the morning when he rises from the warm bed and that would be even worse.

 

So he took his boots and put them on again. He would be quick, so he didn’t bother with coat or cloak. He ran through the snow to the shed as fast as he could, but even then coldness was almost unbearable. Charles made sure that he took plenty of logs, so he could stay inside as long as he wanted. No need to suffer from cold more than was needed.

 

As Charles started to make his way back to the cabin he noticed something moving in the edge of the forest, behind the trees. He stopped and looked carefully at the forest. His heart beat faster with suspense. Maybe he had just imagined the whole thing or maybe it had just been a flicker of light from his cottage that was illuminating the trees. Or maybe it was a wild animal, a deer perhaps, or a wolf, or a bear…

 

Then there was a movement again and this time Charles could hear the scrunching footsteps in the snow. Something was approaching him. Charles kept his eyes on a shadowy movement and took careful steps backwards, towards the door of his cabin. If it really was a hungry animal, he should be safe inside. Drawing nearer the shadow started to take a shape of human and Charles calmed a little bit. At least it wasn’t a wolf or a bear. But he had to wonder, who would be walking around in the middle of the woods in the middle of the night. And in Christmas Eve on top of that. People should be inside, enjoying warmness and company of their friends and family. Funny of him to say that, seeing that he himself was alone and outside in the cold.

 

He was snapped out of his thoughts when the figure stepped out of the shadows of the woods and Charles forgot how to breathe. There, three meters in front of him, was standing the same copper sculpture he had found earlier. Charles’ mind stopped working, so he just stood there, looking at the metallic man with wide eyes. _I must be dreaming._

 

The sculpture tilted his head slightly and Charles’ mouth moved before he was able to think.

“Aren’t you cold?” He asked and snapped quickly his mouth shut. Maybe that was a rude question to statues? But the sculpture didn’t seem offended, even if it was hard to tell in the dim light, and slowly he nodded. Well, that was actually surprising. He hadn’t known that statues could feel cold. Or maybe it was just the case with this one. Or maybe he was just dreaming. Yes, that was probably it.

 

Well, even if this was a dream, it didn’t give him an excuse to be rude.

“Umm. Would you like to come in then?” He asked, gesturing towards his cabin. The sculpture tilted his head again, but otherwise kept still. Charles realized then that he couldn’t feel his fingers that well anymore, so he figured that it was time for him to go back inside.

“Well, I’ll leave the door unlocked, so you can come in whenever you want.” He said, offering a small smile, before he turned around and walked back inside, closing the door, but didn’t lock it.

 

He left his boots beside the door and dropped the logs over the old ones. He warmed his hands in the heat of the fireplace for a moment, until he went to his dresser and took his warmest wool socks and sweater and put them on. Maybe he would start to warm up soon. Deciding that some tea would help with that, Charles put the kettle on. While waiting the water to boil, he poked the fire and added two more logs. After that he started to light some candles so it wouldn’t be so dark.

 

He got startled when the door opened and the copper man walked in, heavy footsteps loud in the small cabin. Charles stared as the sculpture closed the door and cleaned some snow off of his shoulders and head. The movements were just like human, but slower, like the metallic limbs were too rigid to move even for the sculpture himself. The copper man looked around the cabin, before his eyes stopped at Charles who didn’t remember how to function. He had no idea what to do now.

 

Fortunately, he had seen Raven as a hostess so many times that he was able to put himself together. He smiled warmly to his guest as he spoke.

“Good, you decided to come in. Please, take a seat.” He gestured towards the couch in front of the fireplace, before he turned back to light the last candles. He took a deep breath and allowed himself to calm down. He heard the sculpture walking behind him. He could do this, it was just a guest. A guest that was made of copper and he didn’t know anything about, but he would manage. He just hoped that the metal man wasn’t short tempered or easily offended.

 

“I’m just making myself some tea, would you like some- What are you doing!?” Charles yelped. When he had turned around he hadn’t expected to see the sculpture kneeling in front of the fireplace and keeping his hands in the flames. He took a step forward as the sculpture turned his head towards him, face unreadable.

“Don’t you- Doesn’t it burn?” Charles asked with wonder and the sculpture shook his head slightly. And for a second, Charles thought he saw sorrow in his eyes. But the moment was so short he guessed it had only been a trick of the light.

“That really can’t be good for metal.” He said carefully as the flames licked the copper hands. The sculpture turned his head again and pulled the hands out of the fire, clenching them slowly into fists and opening them again.

 

Charles watched him for a moment. Now in the proper light he could truly see how damaged the copper man was. His surface was dim and dirty and he had black spots over him, mostly in his legs. It was a shame, Charles thought, the sculpture must have looked astounding when it had been made. Charles tried to imagine it until he remembered his tea and rushed to the stove.

“So, I was just about to ask if you wanted something. Tea, water? I might have some scotch somewhere.” But the sculpture shook his head, so Charles just poured his own tea.

 

When he turned around, he noticed how the sculpture was looking the chess set he had on one of his shelves and Charles got an idea.

“You play?” He asked and smiled as the copper man turned to look at him, tilting his head. Charles pointed the set.

“Chess. Do you play chess?” He clarified and felt his smile widen as the sculpture nodded.

“Would you fancy a game then?” He asked and felt more excited than he probably should have when his guest nodded again.

“Great! Could you please bring the board here on the table while I make us some space?” He didn’t wait the sculpture’s answer, but started to clean the kitchen table that was full of books, papers, pens and ink. He rarely had any visitors so he never really bothered to clean.

 

As soon as he got all the things moved out of the way, the metal man put the chess board carefully down. It was an old wooden thing that Charles’ father had given to him as a gift many years ago and it was very dear to him.

 

“Black or white?” Charles asked as he took the pieces out of the board. The sculpture pointed at a black pawn and with a nod Charles started to arrange the pieces. While he did that, the sculpture sat down on the other side of the table and waited. _Silent fellow this one_ , Charles thought. Suddenly he realized something and he stopped arranging the pieces. They hadn’t even introduced themselves!

“How rude of me. I didn’t even ask your name.” He said and felt how a small blush made its way to his cheeks. He looked at the copper man, who just looked down at the half finished board. He looked sad. Charles bit his lip, well this started well.

“Do you have a name?” He asked and after a moment the sculpture nodded, but didn’t look at him. Charles was confused. Why he couldn’t just say the name then?

 

When it hit him, he felt so stupid.

“You can’t talk…” Charles said aloud, just to be sure and the sculpture shook his head once. Charles felt terrible as he looked the metal man. He had wanted to be a good host, to make sure that his guest was feeling good, but apparently he wasn’t that good at it. He looked down at the table when he suddenly got another idea. Hoping it would work he took a reassuring breath before he spoke.

“But you can write?” He asked slowly and the sculpture lifted his gaze, a frown making its way to his face. Charles waited, his own expression open, until the copper man nodded. Immediately he took a paper and a pen, placing them in front of the sculpture, who now looked confused.

“Then write it to me.” He said smiling.

 

The sculpture looked at the pen for a moment, until tried to take it from the table. Unfortunately, because his movements were so slow and his metal skin so hard, the pen dropped. The sculpture tried again and again, but the pen just didn’t stay in his grip. Just when Charles was about to say that it didn’t matter the sculpture gripped the pen with so much force that it broke. Charles watched with wide eyes as pen’s pieces and ink dropped on the floor. The sculpture looked up at him with anger and Charles realized that if he ended up in that grip he would also end up broken on the floor.

 

But the fear didn’t last as the anger faded slowly away and something else took its place. Charles couldn’t find out what it actually was when the sculpture already turned his head away. Ashamed? He wasn’t sure.

“Don’t worry about that. It was just a pen.” He tried to reassure the copper man, but it didn’t react. Charles had to do something to make this better.

“Umm. You could always use the pen’s ink on your hand.” He suggested and was rewarded as the sculpture turned to look at him, tilting his head slightly. Then slowly, it took some ink to his finger and started to write on the paper that had now some ink stains. Charles couldn’t help but smile.

 

When the sculpture took his hands away from the paper, Charles took it and read it. The letters were clumsy and big, but it wasn’t a surprise, seeing how difficult small movements were for the copper man.

“Erik.” Charles read out the name on the paper and the sculpture, Erik, nodded. Charles smiled brightly.

“It’s nice to meet you Erik. I’m Charles.” He introduced himself and a small smile made its way to Erik’s face too as he nodded.

 

“Well, that must have been the most difficult introduction in my entire life.” Charles said jokingly and Erik seemed sheepish, so he added. “Not that I’m complaining. I think it was also the most interesting one.” He gave the copper man a warm smile.

 

He didn’t even realize how long they just sat and looked at each other until he remembered that they had actually planned to play.

“Well, we should start our chess match. It’s been a while so I’m not sure how much I’m a challenge for you, but we’ll see it soon.” He said with a little laugh and continued setting the pieces on the board.

 

…

 

Despite the lack of speech, Erik was quite a nice companion. Charles tried to stick to yes and no questions, but even if he slipped sometimes his guest didn’t seem to mind that much. Erik didn’t seem to even mind when Charles got lost while rambling of his latest book. And what came to the chess game, they were even, both learning other’s tactics and coming up with counter attacks.

 

It was their third game. Charles was planning his next move, when he happened to look up from the board and saw how Erik’s eyes were fixed on one of the ornaments Charles had made weeks ago. It was made of colorful pieces of glass, small metal pieces and string. The expression on metal man’s face was hard to read, but he had tilted his head again.

“You like it?” Charles asked and Erik turned his head as fast as he could, apparently ashamed that he was caught or maybe he just didn’t understand the question.

“The ornament you were watching. Do you like it?” He asked again. Erik looked between the ornament and Charles before nodded. Charles smile widened.

“I’m glad to hear that. I made it. And even if it’s not anything spectacular I’m quite proud of how it ended up. I just started to make them less than a year ago. I needed to get my mind away from writing and I had some junk in one box so I just started to put them together and see what happened. It’s more about relaxation than about the result, but it’s always pleasant to make something presentable.” Charles told, fiddling the ornament. It was strange how easy it was to talk to Erik, usually he didn’t talk so much about himself to strangers. But he had to admit that it felt good.

 

“So what about you? Are you good with your hands?” Charles asked and finally decided to move his bishop. Erik didn’t answer, but looked down on the board and Charles tried to find out what he was thinking. His expression was almost like, pining.

“You weren’t always a sculpture.” Charles said the realization aloud as it came to him. It all actually made sense. So detailed look, a name, understanding of speech and emotions that he had shown, all pointed to the option that this copper man, Erik, was actually a human. The copper man nodded slightly to affirm Charles’ suspicion.

 

“What happened?” Charles asked, frowning. He knew that there had to be some kind of powerful magic involved. People didn’t just turn into copper without a reason. He understood his mistake when Erik raised his eyebrow.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t think it through.” He spluttered. Of course Erik couldn’t tell him. He couldn’t speak.

Long silence fell between them while Charles tried to come up with a way to ask Erik about his past in somewhat practical way, but there was just too many options. With just yes and no questions it would be just waste of time. Even if Charles’ curiosity wanted to dig deeper into Erik’s backstory, his reasonable side knew that it didn’t actually matter that much.

 

Erik made his own move, threatening now Charles’ knight with his own. He had to find a new topic for a conversation. He coughed a little, almost awkwardly before he spoke.

“Are you still cold?” Charles asked looking at the board. He couldn’t really focus on the game anymore. After a moment of hesitation, Erik nodded. Charles frowned at that. It had been at least two hours since Erik had entered inside the cabin. How could he still be cold? Maybe it was a sculpture thing.

“Would it help if I gave you a blanket?” He inquired, but Erik shook his head and Charles could see that the copper man looked sad. He could feel his own frustration grow. This wasn’t right! There had to be something that would make it better. He didn’t want Erik to be sad or cold, not when the man was the reason Charles didn’t feel lonely anymore.

“Do you know anything that I could do to help?” He tried, but again, Erik shook his head.

 

Now, that Charles thought about it, Erik had put his hands into the flames without any sign of pain. Maybe the sorrow that Charles thought he had seen then was disappointment. It had been a desperate attempt to feel warm.

“Has it always been like this? Have you always been cold?” Charles wanted to know and when Erik nodded slowly, he felt how his heart broke a little. What a cruel doing that was. Making someone to suffer from eternal cold. No one deserved that.

“I’m so sorry my friend. I wished I could help you.” Charles said, meaning every word and without even realizing it, placed his hand on top of Erik’s, the metal feeling unnaturally cold under his palm.

 

The copper man turned his head in shock at their hands and Charles felt like he had overstepped some kind of invisible line. He drew his hand away, apologizing and felt how his face heated up. But Erik took a hold of his wrist, little harder than necessary, eyes pleading. Charles was still little dazed how the copper man had managed to move so fast, but didn’t try to free his hand from the cold and firm grip. Instead, he tried to solve what was going on right now. He moved his hand and Erik let him. He placed it so their palms were connected and then interlacing their fingers. He looked closely at Erik’s eyes, like trying to read the copper man’s mind. Expression on his face looked wondering and hopeful.

“Can you feel this? Does it feel warm?” Charles whispered, not daring to speak louder, for the hope felt so fragile.

 

And Erik nodded, he nodded again and again, eyes closed. Charles felt laugh escaping from his chest, but he didn’t mind. He was so happy for Erik.

“Come here.” He asked with new eagerness and pulled the copper man up towards the fireplace.

“Try again.” Charles said to Erik and gestured towards the flames, only then letting go of his hand. The copper man seemed to brace himself, before he knelt down in front of the fireplace and moved his hands slowly into the flames. Charles held his breath, hoping for the best. But Erik pulled his hands back from the flames, his shoulders slumped and he turned his head towards Charles. His expression was defeated and he shook his head slightly.

 

Charles felt his heart sank and he let out his breath as a heavy sigh. He didn’t want to just stand there and do nothing when his friend needed him. _My friend? When did that happen?_ He wouldn’t let Erik suffer from eternal cold. Not anymore! With this new fire in his soul and heart he knelt down next to startled looking Erik and wrapped his arms around him. The metal skin was cold like ice, but Charles just hugged tighter. If this was only way to warm the copper man up, he could take little chill.

 

He felt Erik move, so they were properly chest to chest now and his stiff arms wrapped around Charles. Coldness became almost unbearable, it crept through his sweater and made him tremble. He felt how his heart beat slowed down and he understood hazily, that if he kept this up, he would freeze to death. His eyelids became heavier and he let them shut. Maybe he wasn’t meant to help Erik after all.

 

But then he felt another heartbeat. It was weak, but felt like it was becoming stronger. Charles focused on it and realized that it came inside Erik. It was Erik’s heart, fighting for its life. A new glorious perseverance lifted its head in Charles. He wanted to help that stubborn heart. He wanted to give all his own warmth just to assure it would become stronger and stronger. He would be happy to give this to Erik. So he held him tighter, if that was even possible and slowly, he felt the metal warm up under his touch. Both of their heartbeats grew stronger and soon Charles felt and heard how Erik drew a sharp breath, like one does after being underwater for too long.

 

Wait, Charles thought, sculptures didn’t breathe. Erik hadn’t even opened his mouth the whole time he had been with him. And now that he thought about it, Erik didn’t feel like hard, battered metal anymore, but something softer…

 

Charles opened his eyes and drew back, looking at his friend with wide eyes. Erik, apparently alarmed that Charles was about to flee, took a hold of his shoulders.

“Please, wait!” The shock made them both still. Charles looked at the other man in front of him. His skin wasn’t red copper anymore, but lightly tanned. All his clothes, the boots, the trousers, the shirt, were not metal, but leather and fabric. His hair was still reddish brown, but defiantly not hard anymore. And staring at back at Charles were a pair of vivid gray-green eyes. There was no sculpture in front of him anymore, but a human. Living, breathing and _talking_ human.

 

For a moment they just sat there staring at each other with stunned expressions, until Charles found his own ability to speak.

“You’re not copper.” It seemed that even if his mouth worked his mind was still somewhat slow.

“No. No I’m not.” Erik confirmed, looking at himself and sounding still little out of breath. And was it a surprise? Poor man hadn’t drawn a breath since- Well Charles had no idea how long exactly Erik had been a sculpture, but he had a small guess that it hadn’t just been a couple of days.

 

Erik shook his head and let out a small laugh. Then another, until he was laughing full heartedly and Charles couldn’t help himself but laugh along. The sound of their laughter filled the cabin. It was a sound that the walls hadn’t heard for a very long time and Charles knew then that he wanted to keep hearing the sound of the other man’s deep laugh. He hadn’t even noticed how lonely the silence had been before and how it hadn’t disturbed him, but now he didn’t want to go back to it.

 

Charles was so deep in his thoughts that he yelped when Erik pulled him against his chest again and embraced him.

“Thank you Charles. Thank you so much! I’ll never be able to repay this.” Charles felt how Erik’s words rumbled in his chest and his warm breath tickled close to his ear. Only then he understood how close they actually were and the realization made him blush hard.

“There’s no need for that my friend. I was happy to help.” Charles had to concentrate to keep his voice steady while his traitorous mind wanted him to curl closer to taller man’s well build body and be held by those strong arms.

 

As Erik pulled back Charles felt both thankful and disappointed. But Erik didn’t move much, just enough that they were able to see each other. Charles’ heart leaped as he studied the taller man’s face that was illuminated by the flames of the fireplace and the candles, making him look illegally handsome.

“I could kiss you right now.” Erik said lightly. There was certainly a proper answer to that, but Charles couldn’t even think about it when the corners of his lips already tugged up into a flirtatious smile.

“I wouldn’t mind.” He responded.

 

The small smile that had been on Erik’s lips disappeared and his eyes widened. Charles cursed inside his mind. _Me and my stupid mouth!_ He didn’t know if Erik actually liked him that way. Hell, he didn’t even know if Erik fancied men! He was just about to take his leave when the other man shrugged and gave him a grin that showed too many teeth, but he made it somehow look good anyway. He moved his hands from Charles’ arms and took a gentle hold of both sides of his face, bringing their mouths together.

 

It was a brief kiss, ending just after Charles’ lips started to respond to Erik’s own. The loss of the warm contact made Charles shudder.

“You’re cold.” Erik observed with a frown and took the smaller man’s hand, trying to rub some warmth in them, even if his own fingers weren’t in much better shape.

“Well, your metal skin and clothes weren’t that warm.” Charles said with a little laugh and helped another man on his feet. “You go and sit on the couch, I fetch some blankets and then you can tell me exactly what happened to you. If you’re up to it, of course.” Charles hurried to reassure as he realized that maybe Erik didn’t want to talk about his past. But Erik nodded to him.

“I think least that I owe you is an explanation.” He said with a brief smile and sat down on the couch.

 

After Charles picked two warmest blankets he had he returned to Erik and sat beside him. He offered the bigger one of the blankets for him and was surprised when the other man wrapped it around them both, leaving no empty space between them. Charles looked up at him wide-eyed, but Erik gave him a sheepish smile.

“Sharing some body heat is always best way to warm up.” He explained and Charles found that he didn’t mind this new arrangement at all. So he covered their legs with the other blanket that he had meant for himself and leaned against Erik, who sneaked his arm around his shoulders. Charles was fairly sure that this was the most perfect place on earth.

 

They sat there for a moment in comfortable silence, until Erik started to tell his story.

 

It all happened six years ago. He had been a blacksmith in a town far away. He had made a name for himself for his skills and quality of his work. He hadn’t been very social, enjoying the solitude of his workshop, but the people in his town respected him and the life had been easy. With the money he made he was able to take care of himself and his mother.

 

That was until one sorcerer, named Sebastian, came to his workshop and demanded him to make a crown worthy for someone as great as him. Erik had heard of Sebastian’s actions in other towns and villages. He was a cruel man who enjoyed others suffering and misfortune. So Erik took the task and made a crown that was worthy for someone just like Sebastian. A crown made of copper, the cheapest metal there was.

 

The sorcerer had been furious when he saw the crown and didn’t fear to show it. He burnt down Erik’s workshop and home that was upstairs. His mother hadn’t made it out. Erik had tried to attack Sebastian, but the sorcerer had held him still with his powers. In the end, it had been quick. Erik hadn’t even realized what happened when his movements became stiff and world turned cold. Sebastian had laughed and said that he got great satisfaction from the irony of his punishment.

 

The sorcerer left and the town folk told Erik to leave too. He had endangered them all, so he had no place with them. People who he had worked for, people who he had helped, they all turned their backs to him when he needed help. So he had left, trying to find the man who had killed his mother and destroyed his life. He looked for five years, staying out of sight, listening people in the shadows and chasing leads that could bring him closer to the sorcerer.

 

When he finally found him, he was no great sorcerer anymore. He was a beggar, wearing rags and sleeping in the alleys. He was a disgusting sight. Erik had cornered him in an alley and demanded him to change him back, but the man had just laughed, even when Erik had his hand around his neck he had laughed and told that there was no way to cancel the curse. Erik had killed him then. Crushed his neck with only one hand and left the corpse in the alley, feeling burning rage and then… nothing.

 

He had walked around, trying to find a way to break the curse. He had walked and walked, until last bit of hope had left him and he had just stopped and fell in some kind of dreamless slumber. It had been first time he had stopped in six years.

 

It was until he started to wake up of slight warmness. Again, first time in six years. He hadn’t been able to move, but he had felt someone lifting him from the ground. The warmness had left, but Erik was sure that the young man in front of him had something to do with it. Even in the low light of a lantern he had been able to notice how beautiful the man was. Pale skin, flushed from the cold, red lips smiling at him and bright blue eyes that would have taken his breath away if he still had one.

 

He could have admired that man forever, but too soon he left, but not before he wished him merry Christmas. Erik couldn’t help but wonder if the man was always so polite to statues. He remembered the warm that he had felt, so when he finally got his limbs work again he had followed him to a cabin. He had stayed in the shadows, debating whether he should knock or not, but when the man had fetched some firewood, he had decided to step into the light.

 

Charles listened Erik’s story, offering comfort when he told about his mother’s death and the curse. He felt great sorrow for those years that the man had to live in the cold, away from all human contact. He was quiet when Erik told about killing Sebastian. He wasn’t good with violence, but understood how rage could take hold of someone’s mind. When Erik started to tell his point of view about their meeting and how he found Charles beautiful, he felt himself turning brighter shade of red as the story proceeded.

 

 “I thought for a moment that you would run away, but instead you invited me to stay in your home. You were the first one who treated me like a person in six years. When you talked to me about yourself and your work I forgot that I wasn’t human anymore, I forgot that I had no reason to go on.” Erik spoke with grim voice and watched how the flames danced in the fireplace.

“Erik that’s not true. There is always a reason to go on.” Charles insisted, trying to push away thoughts of what would have happened if he hadn’t found the man.

“But it is. I lost everything, my mother, my home, my life and after my revenge… There was nothing. No goal or dream, just coldness.”

“But-“Charles tried to protest, but Erik silenced him by lifting a finger on his lips.

“But that changed because of you. I found that I wanted to know all about you. I still want to. I want to talk with you, play chess with you and help you with your crafting. I want to… keep you warm, I want to wake up next to you and I want to know what makes you happy.” Erik continued, his voice hesitant and Charles felt his heart flutter as those green eyes gazed at his own.

 

But Erik broke the eye contact, lowering his head.

“Still, I know that it is not something for me to ask for. You’ve already done so much for me.” He said and Charles shook his head.

“Oh Erik…” He said smiling tenderly and lifted the taller man’s chin back up, taking in the uncertainty and hope in his eyes. “You don’t need to ask. Because I want to know you too. I want all that you said. So, if you want to stay-“He couldn’t finish that offer however, when Erik already pulled him into a deep kiss. _I suppose that’s a yes then_ , Charles thought and let Erik move them so he was lying on top of Erik. The couch was too small for them, their legs hanging over the other arm, but they didn’t mind.

 

The kiss broke when a yawn escaped from Charles and Erik let out a fond laugh.

“I’ve kept you up. We should probably go to sleep.” He suggested and before Charles could replay he wrapped the blanket tighter around them.

“I have a bed you know.” He said halfheartedly, the sleep finding its way to his bones already.

“But it’s so warm right here.” Erik argued and Charles had to admit that it was true, so he rubbed his head against Erik’s shoulder and closed his eyes, feeling other man’s strong heartbeat through his chest. Erik had his arms wrapped around him and stroked gently his back.

“Merry Christmas Erik.” Charles mumbled sleepily and felt distantly how the taller man kissed his head.

“Merry Christmas Charles.” The replay made him smile and he let other’s steady breathing to lull him to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> There it was and Merry Christmas to you all (Or Hyvää joulua!, as we say it in Finnish), if you read this near the Christmas. I debated long time weather I should make Erik say good night or merry Christmas, he is Jewish after all, but I figured out he could make an exception this once for Charles and they would talk about it in the future. ;) Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. ^///^  
> If you found some big mistakes please tell me so I can fix them so they won’t disturb further reading experiences. ;)


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